Haiti quake victim's foot saved with radical surgery in Orlando

CaptionHaitian Earthquake

Photo by Frederic Dupoux/Getty Images

A father carries his duaghter after a major earthquake on January 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti today, followed by at least a dozen aftershocks, causing widespread devastation in the capital of Port-au-Prince.

A father carries his duaghter after a major earthquake on January 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti today, followed by at least a dozen aftershocks, causing widespread devastation in the capital of Port-au-Prince. (Photo by Frederic Dupoux/Getty Images)

A woman gets her make-shift bed ready to spend the night in the streets amongst all the other wounded, following a major earthquake on January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti today, followed by at least a dozen aftershocks, causing widespread devastation in the...

A woman gets her make-shift bed ready to spend the night in the streets amongst all the other wounded, following a major earthquake on January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti today, followed by at least a dozen aftershocks, causing widespread devastation in the... (Photo by Frederic Dupoux/Getty Images)

Survivors sit in an emergency clinic in Petionville on January 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti today, followed by at least a dozen aftershocks, causing widespread devastation in the capital of Port-au-Prince. (Photo by Frederic Dupoux/Getty Images)

Survivors sit in an emergency clinic in Petionville on January 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti today, followed by at least a dozen aftershocks, causing widespread devastation in the capital of Port-au-Prince. (Photo by Frederic Dupoux/Getty Images)

A woman faints in the arms of a medic in an emergency clinic in Petionville on January 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti today, followed by at least a dozen aftershocks, causing widespread devastation in the capital of Port-au-Prince. (Photo by Frederic...

A woman faints in the arms of a medic in an emergency clinic in Petionville on January 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti today, followed by at least a dozen aftershocks, causing widespread devastation in the capital of Port-au-Prince. (Photo by Frederic...

People search for survivors amongst the rubble of the Caribbean Super Market in Delmas on January 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti today, followed by at least a dozen aftershocks, causing widespread devastation in the capital of Port-au-Prince. (Photo by Frederic...

People search for survivors amongst the rubble of the Caribbean Super Market in Delmas on January 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti today, followed by at least a dozen aftershocks, causing widespread devastation in the capital of Port-au-Prince. (Photo by Frederic...

Sometimes, out of tragedy come life-affirming lessons of hope and humanity.

Take Eunice Francois' story.

The 26-year-old Haitian missionary was at her parents' home outside of Port-au-Prince participating in a prayer group when her world came crashing down last month. While her family escaped serious injury, the magnitude 7.0 earthquake left a gaping hole in her foot when a concrete block fell on it.

After initial treatment in the poor conditions of post-earthquake Haiti, Francois was airlifted to South Florida, where doctors told her to prepare to have her foot amputated. It was a fate she could not accept, and one that ultimately led the Haitian woman to doctors at Orlando Health who thought they could save her foot with a radical surgery.

Her ordeal began shortly before 5 p.m. Jan. 12, when Francois and about 30 other members of the Church of God of the Last Hour noticed the ground shaking, getting more intense with each passing second. They were on the second floor of her parents' two-story home when the first floor sunk to the ground and falling debris blocked all the exits on the second floor.

Members of Francois' church group escaped through an opening where a pillar held up a section of the roof. But near Francois, the roof had collapsed, bringing down a huge chunk of concrete that fell on her foot.

Dragging her injured foot, she and her husband eventually found an escape. When they were clear of the ruins, she looked down and saw that a big chunk of her foot was missing. A stranger gave her his shirt to wrap around her foot. Another man gave her Advil to help her pain. Those were the first of many random acts of kindness to come.

The next morning, Francois was driven to the nearest hospital, about two hours away. The scene there was total chaos.

"There were people on the floor, bleeding," Francois said. "Many of them had gotten hurt helping others."

A nurse eventually gave Francois a local anesthetic and stitched her foot together. A New Jersey-based ministry that learned of Francois' situation paid for a first-class ticket from the Dominican Republic to Miami, where her cousin lived, so she could receive further treatment.

After she arrived in Florida, Francois was taken to a hospital in Coral Springs, where doctors immediately put her on antibiotics for the infection that had set in. When they opened her stitches, they found pieces of concrete still lodged in her foot. Without proper medical supplies, medics in Haiti were unable to clean the wound properly.

The next day, Francois was told to prepare for her foot to be amputated.

Francois asked her cousin to take a picture of her foot with her cell-phone camera and send it, along with a plea for help, to a minister friend in California. Through a vast network of faithful followers, the e-mail reached Orlando Health executive vice president Sherrie Sitarik. She forwarded it to Dr. George Haidukewych, co-director of orthopedic trauma for Orlando Health. After seeing the photo, he thought Francois' foot could be saved.

Orlando Health made arrangements to transfer Francois to Orlando Regional Medical Center. There, Haidukewych performed several surgeries to clean the large wound and prepare the foot for reconstructive plastic surgery.

Dr. Kenneth Lee, a plastic and reconstruction surgeon at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, transferred tissue from Francois' thigh to cover the large hole that remained in the foot. With Lee's expertise in microsurgery, he was able to take the thigh tissue with blood vessels intact, and then reconnect those blood vessels to those in the foot, allowing blood flow to resume in the transplanted tissue.

"The first time I saw the foot was in the operating room. It was a big hole on the top of the foot with bone and tendons showing," Lee said. "We knew our only option was to cover it with tissue."

Lee used a surgical technique called free flap reconstruction. Unlike a graft, a flap contains blood vessels, tissue, muscle, skin and fat. Flaps are used to cover an area in need of tissue. But in more complicated procedures, they are used to reconstruct structures such as a breast or nose.

"It's cool, but it's also very complicated," said Lee, who said only about 40 doctors nationwide do this type of surgery.

He said about 65 percent of free flap reconstruction is done in breast reconstruction. "Crush injuries are more difficult," he said. "In this case, the challenge was finding blood vessels outside the zone of injury that were long enough to attach other blood vessels to."

Francois is one of about 40 Haitian nationals who have come to Orlando Health for treatment after the earthquake, spokeswoman Kena Lewis said.

Now Francois is recovering at Hubbard House, Orlando Health's hospitality home, while she waits for one more follow-up appointment before she can return home. Her sister, Ruth Francois, took time off from her bank job near Atlanta to stay with her.

The sisters were always close, but Ruth says the experience of surviving such a disaster has brought them closer.

"I never lost hope," Ruth said. "I think I tried to keep my sister hopeful, too. I told her we would get help. I told her everything would work out."

Eunice Francois is overcome with emotion when she looks back at all the friends, family and strangers who came to her aid.

"I believe in God. I have faith. I wasn't sure what was going to happen to me. We didn't have any money. We did not have any idea how this was going to work out. It was just a blessing," she said.

"I lost a lot of friends in the earthquake. But you can't mourn any longer or you will never stop. You're just thankful that you're alive. That you are one of the lucky ones."

The last 11 months have been difficult for Anthony and Eldrie Scott, with every holiday or milestone bringing another reminder. They had lost their only child, something they pray no other parent has to experience.